COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to rise locally

For a second day in a row a death is recorded in the City of Kawartha Lakes; its 34th of pandemic

Eight new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Peterborough city and county, Curve Lake First Nation and Hiawatha First Nation were reported Thursday afternoon by Peterborough Public Health.

Fifteen cases have also recovered, the health unit also reported, with the number of active cases now at 85, down from 92 on Wednesday.

There has been a cumulative total of 414 cases, with 324 resolved and five earlier deaths.

An outbreak was declared Dec. 23 at a Community Living group home on Romaine Street (where three residents and four staff members have the virus and another two residents and five staff members who tested positive have recovered). An outbreak was declared Saturday at an unspecified small workplace in Otonabee-South Monaghan Township, while another was declared Sunday at another congregate living facility in the city.

A new outbreak was declared at a Stewart Homes group home for people with disabilities on Brealey Drive in Peterborough on Wednesday after one staff member tested positive for the virus, Peterborough This Week reported.

There were four patients with the virus at Peterborough Regional Health Centre as of Thursday. All are patients in an in-patient unit, the hospital reported.

The health unit is also monitoring 175 people considered to be at high risk because of close contact with a confirmed case, up from 167 on Wednesday.

As of Tuesday, the health unit has received no word on when Peterborough might receive the COVID-19 vaccine, though there is hope it could come later this month.

More than 39,650 people, or 26.8 per cent, have now been tested for the virus at least once, the health unit also reported Thursday.

13 new cases in City of Kawartha Lakes, seven in Northumberland

For a second day in a row, the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit has reported a COVID-19-related death in the City of Kawartha Lakes.

There were also 13 new cases in the City of Kawartha Lakes and seven in Northumberland County as the jurisdiction topped the 600 mark for cumulative cases, with the number of active cases grown to 77.

There have been 297 cumulative cases in the City of Kawartha Lakes with 42 active, 281 cases in Northumberland County with 30 active and 35 in Haliburton County with five active.

The jurisdiction has a cumulative death rate of 19.6 cases per 100,000 people, nearly half of the cumulative provincial average of 33.9 deaths per 100,000 people.

In addition to the new death, the 37th for the jurisdiction and the 34th for the City of Kawartha Lakes since the pandemic began in March, the health unit is also reporting another hospitalization, the 26th so far during the pandemic.

Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reported having four admitted patients with COVID -19 as of Wednesday, up from three earlier in the week.

An outbreak was declared Dec. 31at Hope Street Terrace, a 97-unit Southbridg e Care Homes long-term care home in Port Hope, where one resident and one staff member have tested positive, and another was declared Jan. 1 at a Christian Horizons group home in Cobourg.

The health unit is also monitoring 65 people in Northumberland County, 42 in the City of Kawartha Lakes and seven in Haliburton County who are considered to be at high risk because of close contact with a confirmed case, plus another 16 high-risk contacts.

The Central East Correctional Centre provincial superjail in Lindsay has two inmates who tested positive and have now recovered, plus three inmates who tested positive earlier and have been released.

The Warkworth Institution federal prison south of Campbellford has one active inmate case and two recovered inmate cases.

A total of 1,028 tests for the virus have been given to inmates as of Wednesday, Correctional Service Canada reported. About 600 older, medically vulnerable federal inmates across Canada will be vaccinated starting on Friday.